You must be easily impressed
I finally got to reading Royal Bastards and it started out great but it went down hill. Thought this story had potential but it didn’t live up to it.
Book Review: Royal Bastards by Andrew Shvarts
Rating:
Title & Author: Royal Bastards by Andrew Shvarts
Genre: Fantasy, Adventure
Release date: May 30 2017
Series: Royal Bastards
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Synopsis
Being a bastard blows. Tilla would know. Her father, Lord Kent of the Western Province, loved her as a child, but cast her aside as soon as he had trueborn children.
At sixteen, Tilla spends her days exploring long-forgotten tunnels beneath the castle with her stablehand half brother, Jax, and her nights drinking with the servants, passing out on Jax’s floor while her castle bedroom collects dust. Tilla secretly longs to sit by her father’s side, resplendent in a sparkling gown, enjoying feasts with the rest of the family. Instead, she sits with the other bastards, like Miles of House Hampstedt, an awkward scholar who’s been in love with Tilla since they were children.
Then, at a feast honoring the visiting princess Lyriana, the royal shocks everyone by choosing to sit at the Bastards’ Table. Before she knows it, Tilla is leading the sheltered princess on a late-night escapade. Along with Jax, Miles, and fellow bastard Zell, a Zitochi warrior from the north, they stumble upon a crime they were never meant to witness.
Rebellion is brewing in the west, and a brutal coup leaves Lyriana’s uncle, the Royal Archmagus, dead—with Lyriana next on the list. The group flees for their lives, relentlessly pursued by murderous mercenaries; their own parents have put a price on their heads to prevent the king and his powerful Royal Mages from discovering their treachery.
The bastards band together, realizing they alone have the power to prevent a civil war that will tear their kingdom apart—if they can warn the king in time. And if they can survive the journey . . .
I give Royal Bastards by Andrew Shvarts three out of five hearts because this novel started out as a big fat five out of five hearts and the longer it went on its slit down to a four, to a three and then bounced between two and three hearts.
The story immediately hit is the ground running by having shit go down the first few chapters, it was great. A super short introduction to our characters and then move on with action. It was great, but their actions soon started to feel dumb and not those of a group on the run.
Tilla is a spoiled princes. She is a bastard accepts it and still complains to sit at the bastard table. I did not like her from the start, which is okay. Because I did like Zell for example and I thought he was the most interesting character in this book and I can only remember half of his story line.
Zell is the brooding love interest and I am worried why he falls for Tilla, she is such a bitch.
Lyriana is the only one who can use magic at the most convenient moments. Because they were lying to everyone they know so their magic would be underestimated? How convenient.
Overall I think the story has potential, but it falls from that idea soon. The characters could have been better worked out and I felt very hesitant before reading City of Bastards.
Let me know what you thought of this book!
If you have any requests for which book I should talk about next, please let me know in the comments down below.
For now, let books enrich your life!